Lost, But Not Alone
by ThornWolf the Loyal
Summary: My own take on Lost in Blue. When John's plane crahes on an island, he finds out that he's not the first one there, and that previous someone is still there!
1. Chapter 1: Crash

Finally I have a new idea! Yay!! other people: ookay… It was inspired by Lost in Blue 2, but very few of the events actually match up to the game itself. Hopefully this one will turn out the way I want it to.

**Disclaimer: I do not own LIB 1 or 2. If I did, this story would be the newest game and not just the writings of an inexperienced author.**

Chapter 1: Crash 

_This is GREAT! _thought an over excited teenage boy, John. He ran his fingers through his spiky black hair and leaned back in his seat, his backpack in his lap. He was traveling to Madagascar with his science class to study the animals and plants of the isolated island. When his teacher had offered a volunteer trip there, he originally didn't want to go. But when he saw that his crush had signed up, he wasted no time at all. _Maybe I'll get a chance to talk to Shelby. Usually she ignores me, but maybe she'll pay more attention to me now. _

The plane's pilot interrupted his thoughts. His voice sounded thoroughly bored. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are heading toward some slightly turbulent air. The plane may get bounced around a little bit, but there's no need to worry, thank you."

No sooner had the pilot finished his droning when the bottom of John's stomach fell out of him. The plane went up and down like it was being used as a maraca. Suddenly the plane dropped like a stone.

The pilot's voice came on again, this time panicked. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost one of the engines and we are making an emergency water landing. Please remain calm and-" His voice was lost in the din of people shouting. The plane fell through the clouds and into an awful storm. The wind blew the plane off to the side. John looked out of the window and realized the wind was blowing them toward land. Fumbling with his seatbelt, he looked around trying to find a recognizable face among the people rushing around him.

"John!" He looked around frantically for who had called his name. "John!" He could hear snippets of what the pilot was saying. "Water…Evacuate…Crash…Land…" John was terrified. He couldn't find his class, and he had no idea what was going on.

Suddenly, Shelby appeared in the chaos. John threw his backpack on and leapt forward, hoping that she was with the others. The screech of metal on rocks met his ears, and then the sensation of falling. The plane hit water, and his world went completely black.

--------------------------------------

_Sand…_thought John miserably. He felt as though a herd of elephants had performed Lord of the Dance on his back. _Bright…Sand…_He rolled onto his back. _Sun…Tree…Palm tree…_John shot straight up, his exhaustion forgotten, and looked up again. _Palm tree, _he thought again helplessly. Next to him was his backpack. Pulling it over, he looked inside. Soggy notebook, pens, an empty water bottle, and a penknife. _No food, _he thought as he put it on.

John carefully got to his feet and looked around. He was standing on a long beach and looking out at the ocean. To his left and right were steep cliffs. He slowly turned around. He was looking at the trunk of a palm tree. At first it didn't register. He blinked, then shook his head and walked around it. His foot hit something, and John fell with a startled shout. Looking back, he saw a coconut near his foot. While he was staring at the offending fruit, his stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since…since before he had even gotten on the plane.

_Plane!_ John jumped up and looked around again. He couldn't see anyone else, only part of the plane's wing. "Hello?" John shouted. The wind and his stomach were the only things that answered him. He looked back at the coconut. Sighing, John picked it up, broke it open, and ate his first, and hopefully not last, meal on the island.


	2. Chapter 2: Wolves

For those of you who own LIB2, yes, most of the land is based off of that map, if not all of it.

Disclaimer: Is it really necessary to keep putting this in? sigh I still don't own Lost in Blue; I just make up stories based on it.

Chapter 2: Wolves 

John woke up. He had fallen asleep on the beach after running up and down it looking for any survivors. He got to his feet and looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were rolling in. "I've gotta find shelter," he said. His voice sounded too loud in the silence.

John headed inland, and turned up a small slope. At the top he saw a cave opening. It was small, and he had to crawl in on his hands and knees. Once through the opening, the cave opened up into a large room. Looking around, he saw two piles of brush, and pile of wood, and a small pile of burned wood. He froze. The wood was still smoldering. _People are here!_ John thought as he crawled back out.

"HELLO?" he shouted. No reply. But to his left he heard something else. Walking towards it, he looked around a bush and found a stream. He knelt next to it and looked in. The water was so clear that he could see the bottom of it and fish swimming around. John heard thunder in the distance, but he ignored it. _It's far away anyway. _He dipped his cupped hands in the cold water, and brought them up to his mouth. His sipped from it carefully. It tasted even better than the water that you could get in restaurants.

_People, _he thought again, reminded of his mission. Walking back to the cave, he saw that the cliff had ledges. Looking closer at them, he saw that there were holes in them. It looked like a person had climbed it recently. "Might as well follow them," John said, trying to break up the silence. Another boom of thunder helped him with that. After making it up to the top, John sat there panting. _I'm not as in shape as I thought. _

Looking up, he saw an opening. Walking through it, he entered in a small clearing. Ahead, he saw a raspberry bush, and to his left was a wide river with large rocks in it. Seeing as how there wasn't anyone here, John carefully made his way across the river by jumping from rock to rock. He turned to the left and walked down a slope and along another shoreline. "More ledges…Perfect…"

Climbing up again, he saw that they led up to some ledges that formed a type of maze. Squinting, he could see another cave opening. He carefully made his way over to it and entered into tunnel. Going out the other side, John heard an all too familiar sound. One that he was starting to hate. He came around the bend and saw…"The Ocean." Thunder boomed again, this time much closer. "I should get back to the cave-" Another clap of thunder. "Now!"

John started running back to the tunnel. To his left, he saw the bushes move. He stopped and looked. Four bright eyes looked back at him. Then they leapt out, and the lightning illuminated the lithe bodies that followed them. Two large wolves blocked his path. John looked around frantically for something that he could use as a weapon. A wolf leapt for him. John dodged and the animal hit the cliff behind him. The second wolf lunged for John's leg when a form jumped between them, knocking the wolf aside. "Go!" the form growled at him, and another flash of lightning revealed it to be a brown-haired girl holding a spear. She grunted as the first wolf attacked her.

John dug into his backpack and grabbed the penknife. "I'm not going to leave you here to fight them alone!" he shouted back as the other wolf sprang at him. He flipped open the knife and slashed at the wolf. It yelped and a thin line of blood appeared above its eye. The girl thrust the spear at the other wolf, and it howled in pain as the weapon met its mark. The wolves backed up, then turned tail took off.

The girl turned to look at John, who was staring at the knife in his hand. He felt her eyes on him and looked up, blushing. The girl looked down, then back up. "Thanks…I don't think I could've done that by myself." She looked down again, and she seemed very unsure of herself. "Hm, oh, uh, no problem. Actually, I should be thanking you. I mean, I definitely couldn't have done that myself. I'm John, by the way."

The girl looked up and smiled. "I'm Summer." Just then, the skies opened up with a loud crack of thunder, and rain came pouring down. Both of them looked up then back at each other. "Well…" John said. "Oh, yeah, let's get back to the cave," Summer said.

She jogged toward the tunnel. "Can we walk instead?" John called after her. Summer turned and looked down sheepishly. "Sure. I'm not used to being with around other people. I didn't think to ask if you were up to running back," she replied as she came back to join him.

John looked surprised. "What do you mean, 'not used to being around other people'?" he asked and shivered from the rain.

Summer looked up in time to see this. "I'll explain once we get back to the cave and in front of a warm fire," she answered as she put her arm around his shoulder. Together, they started to walk back to the cave.

**Ya like so far? I should've put this in before...I'm currently unable to get to my computer now...I'm on vacation and I'm using the hotels computer right now (which is very, very slooow), so I won't be able to update this for a while. As soon as I can I will.**


	3. Chapter 3: Storytime

Sorry for the late update!! I was away and couldn't get to my computer. But now I'm back. Did ya miss me?

Disclaimer: One more time! I do not own the concept for Lost in Blue, only the concept of this story!

Chapter 3: Story time 

Once they were back in the cave, Summer had gotten a fire going. "Sorry, but I don't have any blankets or anything like that," she apologized quietly. She was a little nervous about sharing her home with someone else, especially a boy. "If only I had killed one of those wolves, I could've gotten a skin from it," she added, more to herself than to John.

"Hey, it's alright. The fire is warm enough anyway. So, how did you end up here?"

"I was on a cruise with my family when one of those storms hit. The ship had crashed into the rocks that extended farther out into the water than the captain had thought. Everyone was evacuated onto the lifeboats, but an especially strong wave hit mine, and I was thrown overboard. When I woke up the next day, I was lying on the beach," Summer replied. Her eyes had darkened with sadness. "I don't know what happened to the others. I hope they're okay," she added, her eyes now taking on a far away look. She shook her head and looked back at John.

"Was the ship _The Seastar_?"

"Yes."

"But that disappeared at least a week ago."

"That's how long I've been here." She paused. They could hear the rain outside, broken by the occasional clap of thunder. "What's your story?"

"I was flying to Madagascar when the plane was caught up in some turbulence. Then one of the engines went and we crashed into the island."

"That's what I heard!" Summer exclaimed. "When I heard a crash, I crawled out of the cave as fast as I could. I thought I saw a whole bunch of life rafts, but when I shouted to them, nobody heard me. I thought I was just hallucinating."

"Really? Well, at least I know that some people are safe. Is there land nearby?" John's eyes widened in excitement. If Summer wasn't so worried, she would have laughed at his new big-eyed hamster look.

"I guess, but I don't know which direction I'd have to go in, and even if I did, I have no way of getting there."

"Oh…" Another pause. They looked out into the rain. "I think it's letting up," John said.

"Yeah."

"So, how did you survive all this time?" John asked suddenly. Then he quickly added, "Not that I doubt your ability to live out here, being a girl and all. No, wait, that came out wrong! I mean-"

Summer started laughing. "Don't worry! I used to go camping with my family all the time. Plus, I've always had a real interest in how the Native Americans lived and learned how to make tools and weapons and such the same way they did."

"Like spears?"

"Yup, bows and arrows, baskets." She noticed John's confused look. "What?"

"Baskets? How can baskets help you to survive? Other than collecting food, I mean."

"Yeah. You can make traps from them too."

"Oh. Hey I think the rain stopped!" It had indeed stopped. The sun came out from behind the clouds and lit up the still-wet grass, making each water droplet look like gems.

"Good. Are you hungry? 'Cause I'm going out to hunt," Summer said, picking up her spear.

"Yeah! Hey could you teach me how to hunt?"

"Sure," she said as they crawled out of the cave.

"And make weapons?"

"Absolutely."

"And baskets?" This earned him another chuckle from her.

"As soon as I can find something suitable for making them, yes." They had come to the side of the river. Summer rolled up her pant legs and started to wade into the cold water. John followed suit.

"Thanks. Oh, and can you teach me how to start fire's by myself?"

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up. You'll scare away the fish."


	4. Chapter 4: Fishing Lessons

**Disclaimer: I shalt not claim to own Lost in Blue. Thou shalt not sue me.**

Chapter 4: Fishing Lessons 

"G-gosh, is the w-water always this c-c-cold?" John asked, his teeth chattering.

Summer rolled her eyes. "You're such a baby. Now, the first things to remember with spearing fish is that you have to keep perfectly still. If you see a place where lots of fish are heading to, you can go there, _slowly_. If you scare a few away, odds are they will be back if there's food there."

"I think I see a spot like that," John said, pointing.

"That's a good spot. You can go to it," Summer said. John started forward. She added, "Be careful. Some areas of the river are-"

_Splash!_

"-deeper than others," Summer finished, surppressing giggles. John resurfaced and got to the nearest shallow spot. "Are you okay?"

"Well, I caught one," he answered, smiling, and held up a carp by the tail. This sent Summer into hysterics.

"C'mon back," she said still giggling. John sloshed to her. She saw his shoulders shaking. _Oh no. I didn't mean to make him feel bad by laughing. _But soon she realized that he was laughing to the closer he got to shore.

"I'm guessing that's not how you catch them?" John said, trying to look angry and serious.

"Obviously. That's what I gave you the spear for," Summer quipped back at him, sending them both into giggles.

"Maybe you should handle the fishing," John said.

"Yeah. Unless you want to try again…"

"No thanks. I think one dunk is enough for today!"

"Alright. You go back to the cave and get warmed up."

Later on…

Summer crawled into the cave with half a dozen fish. Looking over at John, she saw that he was staring at his catch with a blank face. She decided to have one more giggle for the day. "Do you want that framed and mounted on the wall?"

John chuckled and replied, "I'm sure the neighbors would find it quite attractive."

"And I'm sure that they'd love to hear about your amazing battle for it," Summer added, giggling like a maniac.

"So, do we cook these, or eat them raw?"

Later still…

"That was good. You're a decent cook, for a boy," Summer said as they finished their meal, watching him closely to make sure she hadn't offended him. After all, she meant it in a good-natured way.

"You're a good cook too. And a good fisher, for a girl," John shot back with a smile.

"You know, I'm glad that you're here. Not that I'm glad your plane crashed, just that you're here. I was getting pretty lonely. And even though I've only known you for such a short time, I feel we've been friends forever. I probably sound like an idiot right now."

"No you don't. I am personally glad to be of service," John said, putting his arm around her. "I have the feeling that we're going to have plenty of time to get fully aquatinted." Summer smiled up at him.

"We should probably get some rest now. Tomorrow, I plan on going further into the island. Hopefully we won't be meeting any more of the natives."

"Yeah." They both went to their respective beds. "Goodnight, Summer."

Summer was struck with another idea. "Goodnight, John-boy." She rewarded with another chuckle from the other side of the cave.

**Yeah, I know, it's a crummy over-used joke. Sorry, I just couldn't help it. I've been dying to use it!**


	5. Chapter 5: Tiger!

Disclaimer: I doo not oown Loost in Bluue. Please dooo noot believe I dooo. I'm getting booored of having tooo doo thiss.

Chapter 5: Tiger!

John and Summer had made it up to the tunnel. John stopped at its exit and shuddered. Summer looked at him knowingly.

"I don't think there are any wolves waiting for us on the other side. They tend to only come out at night," she said as if reading his mind.

John took a deep breath. "Let's hope."

Together they warily exited the cave. The area was void of life, save for the bugs and an occasional squirrel. They walked out and headed for yet another climbable cliff. John scaled up the side about half-way when he noticed Summer was lagging behind.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. How did you do that? I mean how did you get up there so fast?"

"I took a mountain climbing class," he replied nonchalantly. "I learned a lot in it, some basic survival skills, like don't drink still water, and making rope and such."

"Hm," she acknowledged when she made it to where he was.

He started climbing again, but stopped and reached out his hand to her. "Here, let me help you." Summer smiled gratefully up at him and took the outstretched hand.

"You'll have to teach me how to climb and make rope then."

"It's a fair trade," he said as they reached the top. Glancing at her, he realized she was no longer smiling but had a look of horror across her face. "What's wrong?"

"It wasn't the wolves we had to worry about," she said, pointing. John turned and saw an enormous black striped orange cat.

"Oh...my…God…" he whispered as the tiger growled low and flexed its claws.

He took a step back and the feline sprang at John. Summer raised up her spear and hit the animal square in the shoulder. It fell aside and redirected it attack at her. John, sporting his own spear leapt at it. The tiger swung its head around. Before John could get out of its way, the beast clamped its jaws around his leg and trashed him from side to side. Summer let out an animal-like cry and jumped onto the creature's back, burying the head of the spear deep into the fur between its shoulder blades. The cat yowled in anger and pain. It let go of John and tried in vain to dislodge the furious girl from its back. Summer held on for dear life and started to tug at it, pulling it closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. Swinging to its other side, she tried to push it over but the tiger swung its head around and grabbed her by the shirt. Summer was pulled away from it and landed near John, knocking the breath out of her. The tiger shook its self and charged her. Summer closed her eyes and waited for its sharp claws and vicious fangs to meet her body. Suddenly, it let out a startled and pained yowl. She opened her eyes in time to see John had driven his spear into the tiger's side. It snarled angrily but decided that it had had enough. It growled one last time, then turned tail and fled.

Both humans sat there panting. They turned, or rather rolled, to face each other. Then Summer started to laugh. Soon John followed suit.

"We did it! We're still alive!" He shouted to the sky above. Summer whooped her agreement. Their laughter died down after a while. Summer got to her feet carefully and made her way over to John.

Before she could say anything, John blurted out, "Are you okay? I thought you were dead for sure."

"I'm fine. But how's your leg? Is it broken?"

"I don't think so," he said moving it slowly. He winced, then added, "No. It's not broken, but it hurts like heck."

"It's probably sprained. We should get back to the cave to treat it. No, no, don't get up. We have to keep as much weight as possible off of it. Here use me as a crutch." Summer helped John get onto his good foot, and they started back.

Back in the cave…

Summer propped John's leg up on his backpack. She had covered it with a piece of cloth that was soaked in the river water to help keep the swelling down.

"How long do I have, doc?" John joked weakly.

"Don't talk like that. You'll have to stay in the cave for quite a while, but I think you'll be able to move around in here well enough."

"I guess that means I'll be totally useless to you," he said looking down.

"Not at all!" Summer said, sharply looking at him. "You'll have plenty of jobs to do around here."

"Like what?"

"Like…Like keeping the fire going! And when I find suitable materials, I'll teach you how to make baskets, and you can help me out by making some so we can catch food easier!"

"Whatever you say."

_John still looks unhappy, _Summer thought miserably.

"I'm going out to find some firewood and food. I'll be back soon." John didn't answer her, only nodded slightly. Summer sighed and left the cave, thinking furiously of how she could cheer him up.


	6. Chapter 6: Presents and Friendships

Disclaimer: Watch the pretty coin…You will believe me when I say I do not own Lost In Blue…Therefore you will not sue me…

Chapter 6: Presents and Friendships 

_What should I do?_ Summer thought sadly as she walked along the beach. _John's so upset. How can I cheer him up?_

Something caught her eye. She walked towards it, wondering if maybe it was a jellyfish that had washed up on shore. As she got closer she realized that it was an empty bottle. _I could use this to bring John water since he's going to have trouble with getting out of the cave for a while, _she thought as she picked it up.

Continuing her walk up the beach, Summer became lost in thought. She wasn't paying any attention to where she was going and stepped on something sharp. "Ouch!" Looking down, she saw that she had stepped on a shell. Picking it up, she said out loud, "You're sharp, but kind of pretty too…"

Looking around, she saw that there were lots of shells all over the beach. "I could make something really nice out of these…I could make something for John!" She opened up her bag and rummaged around for a while. Finally she found it.

"I knew this old sewing kit would come in handy. I can use some thread to make a necklace out of these shells." Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to her. "But would John like it?" she asked the seagull that had landed next to her. It flew away. Looking back at the shells, she muttered, "Well, it's the thought that counts, right?" And she started to gather some of the nicer ones.

Later… 

"Hey John," Summer said as she entered that cave. He merely grunted at her. She tried again. "I found a bottle on the beach we can use to get water to you."

A curtly said "good" was his response. Summer was getting annoyed at him. _Keep calm, keep calm. This is hard for him, _her rational side thought. But another side grumbled, _He still shouldn't treat me this way._ With a sigh, she tried one last time.

"I made something for you."

"Hm."

"I hope you like it," she said and showed him the present with a big smile on hr face.

"…A necklace…?"

Summer's smile disappeared. Her shoulders sank and she turned away. "Yeah…I'm going back out then…"

"No! Wait!" John made a grab for her, but she was too far away. He tried again and reached her ankle this time. "Look, I'm sorry. I was afraid that I wouldn't be much help anymore. That I'd be a burden to you."

Summer was silent for a few agonizing moments for John. When she spoke, her voice was shaking. "You would never be that to me. You know why? Because you're my friend. I couldn't stand seeing you so unhappy. I thought making you something would help, but I didn't know what else to make…"

"Summer, come here." She turned around and John saw that she was crying. She sat down next to him without looking over. The necklace was still in her hand. John took it from her. She didn't seem to notice. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer next to him. _I've been sulking around so much that I didn't even think about what it was doing to her._ He held up the necklace and studied it for a moment.

"You know, you did a good job on this. It looks incredibly good." He put it on and looked at her. "How does it look?"

"Good," she said, breathing in shakily.

"You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good, you better be," he said with mock sternness in his voice. "Now you get some rest, little lady, because tomorrow you're going further in and I want to hear all about it. Got that?"

Summer looked up at him and giggled. "Yes, sir, general, sir!" she said saluting him. He laughed long and loud.

**I tried not to make this too mushy. Hopefully it didn't turn out that way…Sorry it was so short, but I have a great idea that wouldn't fit into this chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7: More Lessons and a Surprise

**Disclaimer: **_**Squawk! Thorn Wolf doesn't own Lost in Blue! Squawk! **_**Me: Thank you, Polly, have a cracker.**

Chapter 7: More Lessons and a Surprise

Summer looked around cautiously. She was standing where the tiger had attacked them and wasn't looking forward to another encounter. "All clear," she said out loud and walked forward.

She was suddenly in a jungle. It was overgrown with plants of all sorts, and fruits that had fallen from the trees were scattered on the ground. She walked forward and tripped over something. Looking back, she saw she had tripped over some vines. "John could use this to make rope…And I can use it for traps and weaponry!"

Gathering some, she looped it around her shoulder and continued on. She followed a path to the east that soon turned to the south. Up ahead was a small grove of bamboo trees. "This is perfect for making baskets with. I'll take some back." Looking up she realized that she should go back before it got too dark. Summer collected her finds and started off for home.

In the cave… 

"And that's how you make rope," John said, triumphantly holding up a piece of newly made rope. Looking at Summer's, he was quite impressed. "You're a fast learner! With an exception of a few kinks here and there, that's pretty decent."

"Not bad for a first try?"

"Not at all! You should've seen the first one I ever made. It looked like a giant knot. How's my basket?"

"Wonderful!" she said upon inspection. "You need to make each weave a little tighter, but that's pretty good for a first try. It gets easier with practice."

"Same goes for making rope. Do you want me to make some more with the rest of it?"

"No, I want to save some. It's good for making traps and bows as a vine. See, I've already made a few. I left one trap out there. I often see a lot of big game up there, and hopefully a deer will get its leg caught in the loop."

"I have to admit, some real meat would be wonderful right now."

"I know. Tomorrow morning I'll go up and see if anything's caught."

"It is pretty late now isn't it. We should get some rest. Goodnight."

"Night."

"Today's the day," John said cheerfully after breakfast the next morning. "You better bring back something good."

"If there's anything to bring back, you bet I will. I'm also going to set up a basket trap near it. There's all sorts of small critters up there that it should be easy to catch a few of those if I don't get any big game," Summer replied, picking up her bow, a spear, a few arrows, and an extra vine. "See you tonight!"

Summer entered into the clearing and set up the small trap next to the tree. "I should be able to catch plenty of food here."

A rustle made her freeze. Out of a bush a hen came clucking over. It didn't notice the girl at all and walked right into the trap. Summer carefully reached down and lifted up the basket. As the chicken ran out Summer grabbed it, but didn't kill it. "I'll keep you. You'll be good for eggs," she said to the hen, which looked up at her and clucked. Summer smiled and gently put it into her bag.

"Oh and thanks for the test run. Now I know the trap worked," she said as she set up the trap again. Continuing on to check on the other trap, she saw that she had indeed caught something, but it wasn't what she had expected to catch. "Oh my god…"

Back in the cave…

John was getting restless. Summer had been out for a while now, and he was starting to worry. While he was waiting, he tried again at making a basket. This time it worked a lot better. His stomach growled. "I know, I know. She'll be back soon," he tried to reassure himself and his tummy.

"Who are you talking to?" Summer asked as she crawled into the cave. Without even waiting for a reply, she continued on. "The basket trap worked beautifully, I caught plenty of food. I even caught a chicken. She'll be good for laying eggs."

"That's great! Finally something that's normal for breakfast. So how did the loop trap work?"

"It worked good as well."

"Awesome! Did you catch a deer?"

"No, but I did catch something even better! I'll go get him," she squeaked as she left the cave.

" 'I'll go get him'?" John asked himself. Outside he could hear Summer talking to something, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Okay, John. She said coming back in. "I'd like you to meet our newest friend. Come on in, Tomo!" And in trotted a furry, four-legged animal that nearly made John scream.

"You brought home a _wolf_!" he yelled.


	8. Chapter 8: A Wolf for a Pet?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lost in Blue, nor do I claim to. **

Chapter 8: A Wolf for a Pet?

The wolf backed up with its tail between his legs and whimpering.

"Calm down, John! He's just a pup!" Summer said as she leaned over the scared animal and tried to comfort him.

"Just a pup?! He's a wolf, for crying out loud!" he shouted. The pup was cowering now. Summer leapt up, grabbed John, and held her hand over his mouth.

"Would you shut up?! He's not going to hurt anyone. Tomo got caught in the trap, and he was so little and cute that I just didn't have the heart to kill him. Now, I'll take away my hand if you promise not to yell anymore, got it?" John nodded meekly, and Summer did as she promised.

"But what about his family? Won't they follow his scent back here and attack _us_?"

"No," Summer said as she went back to the wolf pup. He wagged his tail as she patted his head. "He's an orphan. When I let him go, he climbed up the cliff and started nosing at something. I followed him up and found that he was pawing at some wolves. A male and a female, and a few other pups. I think that was his pack. All of them had deep claw marks on them. I think that the tiger killed them while they were defending their pups, and Tomo was the only one who escaped. When I tried to leave, he followed me. I think it might have been because he felt that I'm part of his pack now."

"Poor guy," John said. He was starting to feel sorry for the pup. It looked at him with blue eyes that were starting to turn gold at the edges. "What's wrong with his eyes?"

"Well, he's not exactly a pup. He's almost an adult wolf. Wolves are born with blue eyes that turn gold when they're adults," Summer explained as she ran her hands over the wolf's dark gray fur. It flipped its head back and licked Summer's face.

"He seems to think you're mom now," John said, stifling a laugh. The wolf looked at him. Pulling away from Summer, he came over to John, his head low and his tail wagging. "This is a good position, right? He's not going to attack me?"

"No, that's a respectful position in wolf language. Just reach out your hand and pinch the top of his muzzle gently."

John did as he was told and to his amazement, the wolf rolled onto his back with his light gray belly showing.

"Good. See, he's submitting to you. You're a rank higher then he is now."

The wolf rolled over again and licked John's hand. John giggled. "His name's Tomo, right?"

"Yup."

John rubbed Tomo's ears. The wolf leaned into it with his eyes closed and his tail wagging even faster than before.

"Is there any special meaning behind the name?"

"Yeah. It means 'companion' or 'friend' in Japanese."

"That's a good name for him," John said, looking at the canine, who was now laying down on his side, his tail thumping the ground.

"If we can train him properly, he might make a good hunting companion. He could even help us with moving if I make a travois," said Summer excitedly.

"A tra-what?" John asked looking up at Summer.

"A travois. The Native Americans trained their dogs to pull these sled-like things. They would put food, clothing, even injured people on them when they were traveling somewhere."

"Does that mean I can get out once in a while?" John asked. "I guess I'm starting to have a slight case of cabin fever."

"Once I make a travois and we get him trained, absolutely. I even have the needed building materials," Summer said, going out. She came back in with four sturdy logs.

"Where did you find those?" John asked. Tomo went over and sniffed curiously at the logs, found them to be uninteresting, and went back to John for some more attention.

"Up in the jungle. I'll tell you everything as I make this thing. Oh, I do need you to make some more rope, please."

"Absolutely. Tomo, get off me!" he yelped as the wolf jumped on him and started licking his face.

"Tomo!" Summer laughed as she came over and grabbed the wolf, pulling him off John.

"I think we need a collar for him."

"I think you're right!"

"Here, use this," John said, taking off his belt and handing it to Summer.

"Don't you need this?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She looked at it. It was a woven black leather belt.

"No. These pants fit just fine without it. I only wore it because the teacher wanted us to."

"Well, then, thank you, John's teacher," Summer joked as she fastened the belt around Tomo's neck. "Hey, it actually fits him pretty good!" she exclaimed standing back to admire the wolf.

Tomo looked down trying to see what Summer had put on him. He shook his head and felt the improvised collar shift. He looked down again, but was still unable to see it. With a huff, he walked over to a corner and flopped down, lying in a position where he could see what the two humans were doing. Both of them laughed.

"Looks like he doesn't have the same opinion you do, Summer," John chuckled.

"Guess so. Let's get to work on the travois. In the jungle, there's all kinds of fruits and…"

Tomo's ears perked up as he listened to the two humans talk long into the night.

**Fun twist, huh? I've always wanted to be able to have a wolf in the game, but the makers didn't program it that way. So this was the next best thing.**


	9. Chapter 9: Tomo's Thoughts Part 1

**Hi, hi! I'm starting to run out of ideas, and I'd love some help with new scenarios. It has been brought to my attention by **_**bookworm **_**(and I know who you are) that some of the chapters move to fast. Realize that my stories do not match up with real time and that a lot of the slower things, like going to the river with the bottle and gathering firewood, I leave out. I've always seen that as a given. But, in this one, I'll see if I can slow things down a little. **

**This one's going to be hard for me. I'm going to try a POV for Tomo. In doing this, to make it seem more like he's the one who's talking, I'm going to give different things different names. You'll probably be able to figure out what he's talking about.**

**Disclaimer: Wheek, squeak, yeep, yeep, wheek. (Me: My guinea pig says that I'm honest and don't own Lost in Blue. Oh and she says she wants some food.)**

Chapter 9: Tomo's Thoughts (Part 1)

When StripedFur attacked, I thought all of us were going to die. He was injured, but still strong. A different smell came from his fur; one that I'd never encountered before. He brought down each of us one by one. My brother Boulder was the first, with my sister Sage close behind. Night and Fern, my parents, told me to run. While they were distracted, StripedFur attacked them.

I backed up, wondering if I should obey my parents or help them. I wasn't paying any attention behind me and fell over the ledge. I hit the ground and scrambled to my feet. I took off, but my paw got caught in something. Turning to look behind me, I could see StripedFur getting ready to pounce, when he froze and looked toward the Water Tunnel, then wheeled and loped away. I glanced over at it and saw a peculiar creature emerge from it.

It walked on its hind feet, carrying something in one of its front paws. It looked like a stick with a rock on the end of it. Its pelt was loose, blue on top and black on the bottom. Its face and forelegs were tan, and it had a patch of long light brown fur on top of its head. It seemed to be distracted by something for a moment, then turned and started towards me. When it saw me, it froze and dropped the stick. I could smell fear coming from it, along with the same scent that was on SripedFur's coat. Did this creature fight with StripedFur and win?

All of my wonder disappeared when it picked up the stick and started to approach me. If it could take down StripedFur and win, what chance did I have against it? I growled deep and low, hoping to scare it. It seemed to work, because it stopped and looked unsure. Then it started to make noises at me. "Shhh. Easy. I won't hurt you. Easy now." It seemed like tit wasn't going to attack me. I stopped growling, but I was still wary. It started forward again, still making noises at me. The closer it got, the more I realized that it was a female. She behaved like she wanted to be my friend, still making soothing noises.

She jerked suddenly and fell onto all fours. I snarled in surprise. She rolled over and picked up a rock in one paw, and tossed it away. She got up and used her paws to brush of dirt from her blue and black pelt. Then it looked at me again. In its eyes, I only saw kindness. Looking at her stick, she tossed it away, and approached me again. I could feel her eyes running over my body.

When she came within twelve strides away from me, I stiffened in fear. She could attack, and I'd be completely helpless. But instead of jumping at me, she halted and stepped back. I relaxed. I could feel my respect for this creature growing, because she respected me. She hesitated, unsure if I would allow her to approach me. I wagged my tail, hoping she knew enough to see that I was inviting her in.

It worked. She came forward again and knelt beside me. She slowly reached out a forepaw to me without touching me. I licked it, and the corners of her mouth turned up. Although I didn't know what that meant, the fear-scent vanished, and her body loosened up. She gently brought her paw up to my shoulder and touched it. I flinched away, but then came back and leaned into it. She brushed it across my shoulder, and then did it again. My eyes closed lazily. It felt like my mother when she would wash me as a pup.

I was drifting off to sleep when the brushing stopped. Opening my eyes, I saw that she was reaching for the thing around my paw. I watched in fascination as she gently unwound it and took it off my leg. I stood up and shook myself. I turned to her and licked her cheek, breathing in her scent as I did so. She had that strange scent, along with the smell of the sea.

_Ocean. That is what I'll call you,_ I thought as I turned and climbed up the cliff. I had to see what happened to my parents. I could hear Ocean scrambling up after me. My spirit fell as I looked at my pack. All of them were dead. I heard Ocean gasp. Turning to look at her, I could see the sadness in her eyes. She put a paw on my back, and I could feel her tremble. I led her away from the scene, back down the cliff, and towards the Water Tunnel.

_Where do I go now? I have no home. But maybe…_Ocean started through the tunnel. I followed her. And I kept following her. As we reached a beach, Ocean stopped and turned to me. "If your going to stay with me, then you're going to need a name," she said to me. I didn't understand, and I cocked my head and looked at her. She did the corners-up thing again and said, "You're a friend now. So I'll call you Tomo. Do you like that name?" She walked off a few feet and turned around. "Come on, Tomo! Let's go."

I was confused. What was all this about "name" and "Tomo"? Ocean seemed to see my confusion. "You may not understand me, but I'm going to call you Tomo. It's a name. Like, um, I'm Summer." She pointed at herself. "Summer."

I got it. She was called Summer, whatever that was, and she wanted to call me Tomo. But I already had a name. "But I'm Shadow," I barked at her. She didn't understand me. Summer only said, "Let's go. You still have to meet John." I followed her, pondering about my new name. And Ocean. It didn't matter to me what she called herself or what she called me. I would always be Shadow, and she would always be Ocean. Still, she seemed nice enough, and even though she couldn't understand me, I got the feeling she would do her best to take care of me. She was my new packmate, and I was going to do my best to make her happy.

**Hopefully this is good so far. I might make this one and the next chapter into a side story for ****Lost But Not Alone****. Tell me what you think of this idea. **


	10. Chapter 10: Tomo's Thoughts Part 2

Here's the second part to the previous chapter. I'm still not sure if I want to turn these two into a separate story or not. Please give me your thoughts on that! And keep reviewing!

**Disclaimer: I promise you, I do not own Lost in Blue. Do you think from now on I could stop doing this?**

Chapter 10: Tomo's Thoughts (Part 2)

I followed Ocean along a ridge. I don't know what made me keep following her. I guess I was afraid. My mother often told me that a lone wolf was a dead one. Perhaps it was this fear that kept me following along. Or maybe it was my respect for her, which was quickly evolving into the same loyalty I felt for my pack. After all, she could've killed me or left me to starve when I got my paw caught.

Whatever the reason was, I followed her happily. Ocean kept on making noises, which she obviously thought was important, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. She looked back every so often and did the corners-up thing when she saw I was keeping up with her. I'd come to realize that this was a good thing. We picked our way down another cliff, not as steep as the one where StripedFur attacked my pack and I, but I was so drained from the day's events that I could barely make it down without tripping onto my own nose.

Ocean stopped in front of a cave and knelt down so she was eye to eye with me. "Stay here, Tomo. I have to go inside and tell John you're here." She stood up and started for the cave opening. I got up to follow her, but she whirled around at me. She didn't look angry, but then again, I still didn't know how this type of creature showed all of her feelings. "No, stay here." I cocked my head at her. Doing this seemed to show my confusion the best way.

Ocean sighed and dropped pelt-like thing she had been carrying. She opened it and took out something that looked like a vine. She tied one end of it around my neck, not tightly at all, and the other end around a tree. I became afraid. Was she going to leave me here to die? I whined at her. Her eyes became sad and she bent over and took my head in her paws. "Don't worry. I'll be right back. I promise," she said to me while stroking my head. I relaxed. I trusted her. And if all else failed, the vine seemed loose enough for me to back out of if I needed to.

She nodded to me and went inside the cave. I strained me ears to hear what was going on. I could pick out Ocean's voice along with a deeper voice, but I couldn't make any sense out of it. Not that it was any different from before, only this time the sound was muffled. I sniffed the air. I could smell the strange scent of Ocean and another one similar to it. _It must be how that type of creature smells,_ I thought. Then a very familiar scent reached me. I held perfectly still as a squirrel climbed down the tree I was tied to. It didn't notice me until it was too late. I pounced on it, snapping its neck. I settled down to my meal watching the cave closely, waiting for Ocean to come back out.

I didn't have to wait too long. A few minutes after I finished eating, she came out looking very excited. She untied to vine and took my head into her paws again. "Now its time for you to come in and meet John." She walked away towards the cave. I hesitated for a moment, remembering what happened last time. Summer turned around and called to me again. "Tomo, come boy!" I trotted over to her, and her scratched behind my ears. "Now stay here until I call you." There's that 'stay' word again. She turned and headed in and glanced over her shoulder at me. I stayed put this time. She nodded and went in. More muffled noises, and then "Tomo!" I got up and trotted in.

I glanced around the inside of the cave. In one corner there was a stack of wood. Another corner had a rock ledge. Although the scent was stale, I could pick up on the smell of meat, fish, and other things. But covering everything was the smell of smoke. In the center of the cave was a fire. Panic fled through me, but it was quickly replaced by wonder. Though the fire was going strong, it didn't move from that one spot. I relaxed. If Ocean was still in here, then it must be safe. Especially since she was standing next to it.

And sitting on the floor behind her was another creature. The second one, a male, shouted angrily. I wasn't sure if he was mad at Ocean or me. I backed up and tried to make myself look as small and insignificant as possible. Ocean leapt at him, yelling back. I watched them, whimpering quietly. The male shouted again, but Ocean slapped a paw over his mouth. She hissed something at him, and he nodded feebly. Her paw dropped away and she came over to me, still talking to him. He seemed wary, but he was calming down.

I was glad when Ocean returned and patted me. I licked her cheek, trying to say thank you in a way she would understand. I was afraid that she would throw me out. They kept going back and forth with the sounds. I studied the male intently. His pelt was red on top with some sort of black and white squiggles on it and dark blue on the bottom. On his head was a pile of spiky black fur. He looked like a hedgehog to me. One hind paw was propped up on something.

_Maybe that's why he reacted so aggressively. He couldn't defend himself and is relying on Ocean to bring him food and to protect him. Kind of like when Moon got hurt and we took care of her until she got better, _I thought, remembering the time when another of the pack was hurt in a small rock fall. _I should show him I wouldn't hurt him._

I got to my paws and walked over to him, trying to look as harmless as I could. As I got closer to him, fear sprang into his eyes and he whimpered something to Ocean. When she responded, he relaxed again, though he still watched me very carefully. Then he reached out with one paw and pinched my muzzle. Automatically, I rolled over and flashed my belly fur, just like my parents had taught me to when getting told to stay in my place. More noises. I got to my paws and licked his hand. I could smell the scent of smoke heavily on his pelt, so that's what I'll call him. Smoke rubbed my ears, slightly rougher then Ocean, but still good.

Ocean went out and came back carrying some logs she had found on the way back. I sniffed them to make sure nothing was on them. Satisfied that nothing changed, I went back to Smoke in hopes of more ear rubs. But he ignored me completely. The other wolves had never ignored me. It was simply unheard of. I got frustrated and jumped on him so he would have no choice but to pay attention to me. Smoke let out a cry (I was worried that I hurt him, but saw he was doing the corners up thing at the same time and relaxed) and Ocean came rushing over and wrapped her forelegs around my neck and dragged me off. I looked back and forth between them. They didn't look angry, but I still kept an eye on them because I wasn't sure if I interpreted their expressions correctly.

Smoke took something off and handed it to Ocean. I didn't get a good look at it because I was by something on the floor next to me. I felt Ocean next to me, but before I could turn to greet her, I felt something around my neck. I turned to see her next to my face. I thought she was hugging me, but when she stood back, I could still feel something around my throat. I wasn't tight or hurting me. It was just…weird. I shook my head in hopes of getting rid of it. It still hung on. I sighed and curled up in a corner and watched the two creatures. They were working on something and talking to each other. Every so often they would glance over at me and talk to me. I still had no clue what they were saying, but I knew that whatever they said they meant it well. I would learn how they behaved and I would figure out what they were saying somehow.

We were a pack now. No more than a pack, a family. I thought about my own pack. I wondered if they were looking down on me with anger or happiness. I had left the world of our ancestors to live with these new things that we had never seen before, but I felt that I had found my place. It's hard to explain. I had lived all of my life out in the open, with the exception of when I was still in the den with my mother, and here I was sleeping in a cave, and next to a _fire_ nonetheless. But somehow I felt that I belonged there. I would never forget my old life, but I was excited about my new future. And I knew my new pack mates would be there living every second with me.

**Like the ending? In case this does become a side story, it will be all set to go. I may or may not have more chapters like this going on through the book. Tell me if this should become separate and if I should do more stuff like this!**


	11. Chapter 11: Nighttime Thoughts

Sorry about disappearing for a while. Schoolwork has really been weighing me down, but I've finally figured out a rhythm to follow, so maybe now I'll be able to write more often.

**Disclaimer: places right hand on book I swear I don't own anything except for my characters and my own plot twists. **

Chapter 11: Nighttime Thoughts

John hobbled to the entrance of the cave to wait for Summer to return. With his spare time, he had crafted himself a type of crutch, but he still remained in the cave for most of the time. Part of it was his own uncertainty of how well he could get around, and part of it was because he knew Summer would ream him out if she found him more than 10 feet from the cave. Tomo got up and walked over to him. The wolf had grown over the last few…days?…weeks? John truly didn't know how long they had been stuck there. The wolf whined quietly, and John realized he must have looked worried enough to scare Tomo.

"Relax, fella. She'll be back soon," he said, rubbing him behind the ears. The wolf wagged his tail and went back to his corner. He sat there staring into the flames of the fire. John wondered what he was looking at so intently. He had noticed how much the wolf paid attention to it, and it was starting to unnerve him. John was extremely happy when Tomo whipped around sharply to look at the cave entrance then jump up and race over to it, his tail wagging happily; his usual routine when Summer returned.

"Hey, Tomo! How's it going?" Summer knelt down to scratch to canine's back.

"What, no happy greeting for me?" John asked, trying to decide if he was pretending to be hurt or if he genuinely was.

"That's why I asked you how you were doing," she replied, looking up at him.

"But you…the wolf…ugh, never mind. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You don't seem particularly overjoyed right now."

"The wolf got the first greeting," John said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, you're not the one who was standing by the door wagging your tail and looking up at me with pitiful eyes," Summer shot back. John started laughing. He had seen just how cute Tomo could be when he wanted to be, and he knew just how hard it would be for the softhearted Summer to resist Tomo's patented I'm-a-cute-little-wolfy face.

"Alright, I forgive you…this time." John went back to his bed and was about to sit down when Summer stopped him.

"Hold up. I need your help."

"Look at me. How can I help?" Summer gave him 'the look'. "Okay," John sighed, "What do you need?"

"You remember how you told me you took shop class?" John nodded. "I need you to show me how to build furniture. Like a bed."

John considered this for a moment. "Sure. I can do that. Do you have wood?"

"I have some, but probably not enough to make 2 whole beds. I'll need to try out the new travois tomorrow with Tomo. I can use it to bring back more wood than I could carry alone."

"Sounds good. One question: Can I leave the cave yet?"

Summer giggled at this. "Absolutely. I think you might be able to make it down to the beach by now. Just don't try any climbing, okay?"

John settled down in front of the log pile Summer had brought in. "Can do. Now, about the beds. Use the knife to cut a notch into one end of the wood, like this." John started to whittle away at the log, slow at first to show Summer, then faster when she started on her own piece.

Soon, they had finished the base part of the beds. "Not bad," John said looking at their work. "Nice idea to use some leaves as a mattress to soften them up."

"Thanks. While I'm out tomorrow, I'll see if I can bring down some deer. Then we'll have plenty of food, and we can use the fur as blankets and more bedding."

"Definitely. You should get some sleep. You too, Tomo," John added looking at the wolf, who yawned in response.

"What about you?" Summer asked, although she obediently lay down in her bed.

"I'm going to stay up a little longer. Maybe go down to the beach."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Summer asked, sitting up straight.

"I'll be fine. If something happens, I'll shout and odds are that at least Tomo will hear me."

"Okay. If you're sure…I'll see you in the morning," Summer said, even though she still looked a little uncertain. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Summer. 'Night, Tomo," John said to the lump of black fur. The wolf raised his head and looked at John with his almost completely gold eyes, sneezed, and curled back up.

"John chuckled as he left the cave. When he reached the beach, he finally let himself think about all the thoughts he had been pushing away.

_Will we ever get home? Of course we will_, he chided himself at the thought_. We've come this far, and we're doing fine. I'm almost better, especially if Summer is letting me off my leash. Man, I'm amazed we even got this far. Thanks to Summer, mostly. Here I thought I'd have to take care of her, and here she is watching out for me! Still, I'm glad I got stuck here with her. I've never met someone so much fun before. I wonder what things would have been like if it was Shelby…_

Back in the cave, Summer was having similar thoughts. _I hope we can make it out of this in one piece. I'm sure we can. John has helped me so much. Every time I look at him, I feel motivated again, even if I think I've lost all hope. To see him trooping along, it makes me want to keep going to. And now with Tomo, it almost feels like a regular household. Well, with the exception of no beds, rooms, shelves…okay, maybe not entirely like a home. More like a family. _Her last thought before sleep claimed her conscious mind was, _we will get home together, I'm sure of it. _

**A little mushy, but not too bad, I hope. The next one will be in Tomo's POV again. I'm not sure how I could put the next chapter into writing any other way unless I use Tomo to tell it. So, it will be yet another wolf story!**


	12. Chapter 12: JunglePack

Once more, a chapter told in Tomo's POV. It really is the only way to tell the next part of the story.

**Disclaimer: Lost in Blue, I own not. Bored of this I am.**

Chapter 12: JunglePack

I liked my new home and pack. We looked out for each other. But the hierarchy of our pack was hard to understand. Usually the male was the alpha, but Ocean had clearly taken that position. I'm not saying that she controlled every aspect of our lives, because she didn't by far. But, for the most part, what she said, we did. She listened to Smoke and I could tell she tried to listen to me. Although we couldn't understand each other completely, we had learned some of each other's language.

I had grown used to the thing around my neck. I sometimes stayed with Smoke in the cave, and other times I went with Ocean. Most of the time it was the former. Even though his leg seemed to be getting better, she still was very worried about him. I did what I was told, but sometimes Smoke told me to go out. I think he felt embarrassed that Ocean had me keep a close eye on him and was tired of being treated like a pup. The only thing I wouldn't do was accept food from them. I hunted for myself, but every so often I would hunt for them too. They were both surprised the first time I brought in a rabbit for them!

Still we all trusted each other. So when Ocean put a thing made of logs on me, I made no effort to get it off. I knew she wouldn't hurt me, at least not on purpose. When she told me to follow her, I did. When we came to the cliffs, she helped me get up it. Even though she tried to keep smiling and talking merrily, I could tell she was worried about Smoke. She hesitated often, and I knew she was thinking about going back. I kept going forward to encourage her to keep going. I knew Smoke was just fine. He could take care of himself now.

Near to where we first met, Ocean took the wooden thing off me. She sat down beneath a tree and opened up the pouch she always carried with her and took out some food. She offered me some, but I turned away. "I don't understand why you won't take anything from me. But that's okay. You go find your own stuff, just don't stray too far," she said. I could only understand a few words, but I got the idea. I climbed up the cliff side and started into the jungle.

I kept alert for any sign of StripedFur, but so far I hadn't found anything that would point to him being nearby. I still didn't relax, and I became petrified with fear when the bushes rustled ahead of me. I sniffed that air. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or even more worried when I found out who was really coming.

Out of the bushes came the JunglePack. Even when my own pack was alive, we avoided this one at all costs. They were meaner, bigger, and tougher than any of us were. I instantly picked out the alphas, the gray Rock and the brown Russet. Two jet-black wolves followed them out. On closer inspection, I noticed one had a white spot of his head and the other had white paws. I recognized them as being Claw and Fang, the rogue brothers. _Seems they've found a pack, _I thought with dismay.Lastly, four wolves that were smaller, meaning they were my size, trotted out behind the others. They were Rock's and Russet's pups; Dust, Alder, Poppy, and Lichen.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Russet snarled.

"Looks like a member from BeachPack wandered away from home," Rock growled.

"Back off!" I barked. JunglePack fanned out in front of me. All except for Poppy, who stepped forward.

The red she-wolf sniffed the air, and then drew back sharply. "What is that smell? It's smoke, and something…else. You haven't been living by the sea for a while, haven't you? I can't smell the salt water on you that would come from where you BeachPack wolves normally live."

"No, I haven't," I replied. I was scared, but unlike the others, Poppy wasn't acting hostile towards me.

"The something else…it smells like the scent that was on StripedFur, doesn't it father?" she said, turning to look back at Rock. He nodded slightly without taking his eyes off me. Poppy returned her gaze to me. "What is it?" Her face became worried. "Is it a sickness?"

_This could be my ticket out of here, _I thought"No. It comes from a strange creature who came here. A powerful one."

"What kind of creature?" Claw snarled. I stiffened. I could feel his eyes running over me, looking for my weak spot. He was trying to scare me off, but I refused to be intimidated so easily. I forced myself to relax.

"They walk on their hind legs only. They have thin loose pelts, and use their front paws to do things, like pick stuff up. They do not have claws or fangs to fight with."

"They don't sound very tough," Rock's jeering voice broke in. The rest of his pack starting laughing.

All except for Poppy, who was listening with careful attention. "How can they survive?" She asked in wonder.

"They have created tools, like a stick that has a sharp rock on one end to fight with. And they can control fire." That got their attention. I was starting to get to them. Time for the finale. "And they are so powerful that they drove off StripedFur." Poppy's eyes went huge.

Fang stepped forward. "You've seen them do this?" he challenged.

"Yes, I have," I replied, holding my ground. Okay, so it was a lie. But with the way StripedFur had run the day I met Ocean, I knew that she had done something to him.

"And you went to live with them?" Poppy asked. Her eyes were shining. She looked like a pup whose mother was telling a bedtime story.

"Yes, I did. I respected them, and they respected me. They have become my pack mates."

"Respect you? Ha!" Russet barked. "Look at you! You have a vine tied around your neck! They aren't your pack, you're their slave!" The wolves all started to laugh at me.

"You aren't fit to be called a wolf anymore. You turned your back on your own pack to become a possession of these other creatures!" Rock howled.

Anger flared in me. How dare he say that Ocean and Smoke owned me! I could leave them whenever I liked! _Could you?_ a little voice in side me asked.

I was brought back to reality by Rock's snarl. "You aren't a wolf, therefore you are prey. Get him!" the alpha howled.

Claw and Fang both leapt at me. Fang sank his teeth into my back. I bit into his shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Poppy intercept Claw. From behind me I heard Ocean's enraged howl. The entire pack froze in fear. I turned to see her raise the stick. She threw it towards me, and I felt Fang's grip disappear. Ocean darted forward, retrieved the stick from his side, and aim it for another wolf. Before she could pull back to throw it, JunglePack turned and fled.

Poppy followed then skidded to a stop. She turned back to us. Keeping her eyes on Ocean, she stepped towards me. I silently thanked Ocean for not throwing the stick at her. "What are you doing?" I asked Poppy.

"I'm joining your pack instead. I'm tired of fighting every living thing. I've heard that BeachPack wolves are peaceful. Besides, I've always wanted to see the ocean," the red she-wolf replied.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but StripedFur killed all the wolves from my pack. But you are welcome to join me in my new pack." I looked back at Ocean. She lowered the stick, and I saw the fury in her eyes ebb away. "Just follow me," I said turning back to Poppy. She seemed a little worried about having to go near Ocean. I brushed my muzzle against her neck, then turned and trotted to Ocean, my tail wagging. She knelt down and hugged my neck, making soft worried noises. I looked back to see Poppy approaching slowly with her head down. Ocean looked up at Poppy, who froze suddenly. Ocean held out a paw to her. The she-wolf was highly confused by this. "Come on. Ocean's inviting you to come over. I promise, she won't do anything to hurt you." Poppy came forward and sniffed at Ocean's paw. Ocean moved to pet her, and Poppy jumped out of reach. I looked up into Ocean's face, hoping she wouldn't be too offended. She looked disappointed, but she seemed to understand. She stood up and looked at Fang's body. She picked him up and called to me. She started off, and I followed her. "Come on, Poppy. We're going home," I barked over my shoulder to her. She followed reluctantly.

We made our way down the cliff, back into BeachPack territory, back to where I first met Ocean.

"But what about you're back? Isn't she going to take care of it?"

As if on cue, Ocean opened up her pack and took out a thing of water and a piece of cloth. She poured some water onto the cloth and rubbed it carefully over the bite. When she seemed satisfied that it was clean and not too serious, she put away everything and then pulled the wooden thing over to us. She tied Fang's lifeless body onto the wooden thing, and then tied it to me. Poppy looked horrified by this. "What is she doing to you? Is she trying to hurt you?" she asked.

"No," I laughed. "I am going to pull this. Ocean is not as strong as I am, so I help her whenever I can. It doesn't hurt at all, and Ocean does everything she can to make sure it stays that way."

Ocean called to us and we set off, Ocean in the front, Poppy and I in the back. I discovered going down the cliffs was a lot easier then going up, and on the especially steep ones Ocean would hold onto the wooden thing to help me get down easier. Every time she spoke, Poppy would jump halfway out of her fur. After a while, she got used to it. The hardest part for her to understand was when Ocean tried to give her a new name.

"What do you mean, 'she wants to call me Ember'?"

"Exactly that. She is going to call you Ember."

"But that's silly! I'm Poppy, and you're Shadow."

"I know that, but she doesn't understand us, so we can't tell her that. In her mind, I'm Tomo and you're Ember."

"Fine. But I still want you to call me Poppy, and I'm still going to call you Shadow." We walked on in silence for a little while. Then Poppy spoke up again. "So, why did you go back with her anyway?"

"I don't really know. I didn't want to be alone I guess. Besides, Ocean was so nice to me anyways, and she did save my life, so I trusted her, and over time I grew to love her and Smoke. He's the other one of the pack."

"Interesting." We continued on, listening to Ocean's unending chatter. "Does she ever shut up?"

I laughed. "Yes. But she's been worried about Smoke because of his injury. She tends to treat him like a pup. Look, we're almost home." She looked uncertain, as if she was thinking she shouldn't have come. I licked her shoulder. "Don't worry. I think you'll like it here."

Thinking back, I realized I was a little anxious about her meeting Smoke. But he had grown tolerant, even happy that I was a part of the pack. I certainly was happy that I finally would have someone else who I could talk to and would understand me. _This is certainly going to be one heck of an adventure, _I thought as we approached the cave.

**Well, I'm certainly having fun with this whole wolf idea. I kind of took the pack names idea (JunglePack, BeachPack) from the Warriors series, so let me also say that I do not own Warriors and I would appreciate it if you didn't sue me.**


	13. Chapter 13: The Family Grows

Disclaimer: Thorn Wolf doesn't own Lost in Blue. Thorn Wolf is also getting bored with saying this. And Thorn Wolf is rapidly running out of ways to say this in a funny way…

Chapter 13: The Family Grows 

John was sitting outside the cave waiting for Summer and Tomo to return. He had amused himself by whittling away at a stick he had found. As he was lost in thought, he wasn't really paying attention to anything else, and nearly shouted in surprise when a shadow fell over him. He looked up and shaded his eyes to see Summer standing over him grinning like a maniac.

"Uh-oh. I don't think I like that smile…What did you do now?" he asked.

"We have a new friend," she replied, still smiling insanely. John looked behind her to see Tomo with a red wolf standing beside him.

"I've gotta stop letting you go out on your own. We're running out of space in the cave!" Seeing Summer's pouting face, he added quickly, "But we do have room for one more! What's its name?"

"_Her _name is Ember. She's a little shy, so don't approach her too quickly."

"Sum. Look at me. Do you honestly think I'm going anywhere quickly?" John said, indicating his leg.

Summer considered this for a moment. "True enough."

"So, why do we have another pet?" John asked. He looked over at Ember again. She shifted nervously and pressed up against Tomo's side. He nuzzled her, then turned and led her away. When he moved away, John could see the travois, and on it was a jet-black animal. "What's that? Do we have three pets?"

"First off, they are not pets. Second, only Ember is new to the family. I had let Tomo go off to do his own hunting. After a while, I heard howls and snarls coming from the jungle. I started to get worried, but then I thought maybe Tomo was facing off with prey that was larger then him. I got really worried when I heard him yelp. I climbed up the cliff as fast as I could and saw that wolf-" she pointed to the black animal "-with his teeth in Tomo's back. Ember was fighting off another one. I screamed at the surrounding pack to leave Tomo alone, and I killed that one with the spear. That scared off the other wolves, except for Ember. She seemed to like Tomo and she followed us back. She doesn't seem to like me very much yet, but at least she hasn't attacked me. I think it's more of an uncertainty problem then a dislike towards humans."

"Sounds like you've had a tiring day," John said smiling up at her. As he looked closer, he could see the fear and anger in Summer's eyes as she remembered the events. "You should get some rest."

"Yeah. Tomo, come on boy! Time for bed!" Summer called out to the dark gray wolf. Tomo, who had been racing up and down the beach with Ember, skidded to a stop and took a few steps towards the cave. He turned to look back at Ember. Her head was low and her tail tucked between her legs. He looked back and forth for a few seconds, trying to figure out whom he should listen to. Then Tomo seemed to come to a decision. He barked at Summer, then turned and trotted back to Ember.

Summer seemed a little hurt at this. John got to up and hobbled over to her. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't take it too hard. He probably missed being with another wolf. And even more than that, he's trying to help her feel more at home."

"I guess…Hey, what's that?" she said, looking down at his hand.

"I was whittling while you were away."

"What did you make?" Her eyes were as bright as a child's are at Christmas time.

"I'm not sure. I wasn't really paying attention." John opened up his hand. Nestled in his palm was a small wooden wolf, about 6 inches long. It looked like it was running, but not like it was chasing after food, just for the joy of it.

"Well, look at that. I guess Tomo's rubbing off on you after all!" Summer exclaimed. She picked up the little wolf and held it out. She positioned it so the ocean was behind it and its paws were about level with the beach. She giggled quietly as the two real wolves went racing by behind it along the sand. "It fits in with that scene rather nicely, doesn't it?"

"I guess it does. Let's go to bed. You look like you need a nap. By the way, when I told you about not having enough room in the cave, you do realize I was joking about it right?"

"Yes. And you do realize I was faking the pouting face, right?"

"Um, no, actually."

"You still don't know me very well yet, do you?" Summer said. She untied the dead wolf from the travois and started pulling it around to the left side of the cave.

"Where are you going?"

"There's a little cranny over here in the rock wall. I'll hide this in there until tomorrow. Then we'll have breakfast all figured out. Maybe even lunch and dinner. I'll use the fur for something too. And the bones."

"Okay. Now get to bed," John said when she came back. "You look like you've been though hell."

"Yes, dad," Summer said. "I'm not all that (yawn) tired anyways."

John smiled at this. "Whatever you say." Summer tripped, and John reached out an arm to help her get her balance back. In doing so, he put own his injured leg and winced at the pain that shot up it. Summer was so exhausted that she didn't seem to notice, but John hid the pain behind a smile anyways.

"Maybe I am tired," Summer said, her words slurred slightly and her eyes half closed. "Good night, John."

"Good night." He watched as Summer crawled into the cave. He looked back at the wolves. They were sitting next to each other watching the sunset. He smiled. Then he looked over at the cranny that the dead wolf was now hidden in. _I could make a smoke, and then we could preserve more meat. _He stifled a yawn that had come up on him suddenly. _Tomorrow,_ he thought with a little grin.


	14. Chapter 14: Sunset

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lost in Blue.**

Chapter 14: Sunset 

It felt good to be racing along the beach with another wolf. Poppy was a lot faster than I had expected her to be. She kept pace easily. I had to admit, I admired how her red coat shown in the orange glow of sunset. I trotted to a stop towards the end of the beach. Poppy was too busy looking at the sea to notice the wall and nearly slammed into it. I bit back my laughter as she came back to me with a sheepish look on her faced.

"How are you? Getting tired out?" I asked, slightly winded from running at full speed across the sand. But she looked much more tired than me. She wasn't used to the way sand can drag at your paws, but she wasn't about to let me see that.

"No (pant) not at all. Let's (gasp) go again (huff)." And with that she whirled around and raced off again, her tongue lolling out. I laughed and loped after her. She reminded me of my little sister, Sage. Just then I heard Ocean shout for me. I skidded to a stop and started to her. Behind me, I heard Poppy whine softly.

I looked back at her. "Come on. They don't bite!" But I knew from the fear in her eyes that she wouldn't sleep in the cave, not yet anyway. I looked back and forth between the two. I didn't want Ocean to feel I had abandoned her, but Poppy needed me now. I saw Smoke get to his good paw, leaning on a stick so he could keep his balance. I decided that Ocean would be fine since Smoke was there to keep her company. I barked a quick goodnight at her and returned to Poppy. Her eyes were full of relief, but I couldn't help feeling like a heavy rock had settled in my stomach. _You turned away from your pack_, a voice deep inside me sneered. Had I? Rock's voice echoed in my mind, _You aren't fit to be called a wolf anymore! _I wasn't. Not only had I left the wild, I just turned away from those who I had become loyal to.

Poppy licked my shoulder, startling me back into reality. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," I stammered, part of my mind still lost in these dark thoughts. _Worthless scrap of fur, _the angry voice howled in me. I closed my eyes in pain, wishing it all would just go away. I was so upset that I started running again, wondering if I could out run this spiteful voice. I heard Poppy call out to me, and I could hear her paws pounding on the sand to try to catch up with me. I glanced up to the cave hoping Ocean would come and protect me from it, but she and Smoke had already gone in. The malicious voice snarled again, _They don't even want you anymore! You don't belong! _I stumbled and fell. I couldn't find the strength to get back up again. I felt Poppy sit down next to me. Moments later I felt her nuzzle my head.

"Shadow. What is it? Tell me."

"Poppy," I broke down. "He's right."

"Who?" I looked up into her dark amber eyes. They were full of concern. A realization hit her and her eyes went wide. "You mean my father?" I could only nod. "No! It's not true! You _are_ a wolf. I know it, I just don't know why you can't see it. You watch over Ocean and Smoke, always trying to put them first."

"But I turned away! I betrayed them!" I nearly howled.

"You turned away, but only physically. I saw how much you wanted to go up there. But you didn't because I needed you. You're a wolf. No more than that, a true alpha. Not like Rock, who reigned only with the fear of the others keeping him in that position. You are concerned about all of us."

"But I left the wild," I said sitting up. _I left the homeland of my pack_, I thought miserably to myself.

Poppy somehow managed to read my mind. "You left your homeland because it wasn't your home anymore. You had no ties to it. You saw Ocean as a new friend. She saved you, so you now devote yourself to helping her. You're still loyal, just to a new pack now. Do you understand?"

She twisted herself around so she could look me directly in the eyes. I tried to turn away, but Poppy suddenly jumped on top of me, her tail held high. "Well, If you're that easy to take down…" she smirked down at me, a sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

I growled playfully and twisted myself out from under her, before se could get ready, I pounced on her and held her there with one paw. "I am a wolf! And don't you go thinking otherwise!" I howled to the now red sky. She pushed me off, pointed her nose to the sky and howled long and clear. My own voice harmonized beautifully with her voice and we howled together in joy, and, in my case, in triumph. I could see that I had changed, but deep down I was still myself. And nothing could ever change that.

Our song faded off, echoing out over the ocean. We gazed at the sunset. Poppy sighed in contentment. "I've never seen a sunset like this before." I realized that the canopy of the forest must have made it impossible to see a sunset. And even though I had grown up around them, this one seemed especially beautiful. I looked up at the sky and marveled at the colors that shifted from the darkness of night to the vivid red near the sun. Life was like that. It changed, just like the sky during a sunset, and each shade of life was just as exciting as another.

**Okay, a little mushy, I know…But not too horrible, right? Next chapter we explore deeper into the island and find yet another surprise. Hopefully it is a good one…Mwahahahaha!!!**


	15. Chapter 15: Going Further In

Wow, it's been a while huh? Sorry about that, I was having a case of writer's block. Hopefully we won't be having that problem again for such a long time…

Chapter 15: Going Further In 

Summer yawned. It had been a week since they had found Ember, or had it longer? Out here on the Island, there really was no way of figuring out how much time had passed. Not that she cared really. All that mattered to her was that they survived. John had almost recovered from the tiger attack and he could now walk with only a slight limp. She glanced over at him. John was still sleeping, mumbling something about Chinese food. _Let him sleep_, she thought to herself as she stood up and stretched.

She crawled out of the cave and glanced over to her right. Tomo and Ember had taken to sleeping together outside. Sure enough, they were curled up together, Tomo's head resting on Ember's back. For the first few nights, Summer had missed Tomo's snoring, but she had grown used to the silence. She whistled quietly, and both wolves raised their heads in unison to look at her.

Tomo was the first to get up. As time had gone by, his fur had darkened into a deep shade of jet black. He shook the dust out of his fur and trotted over to her, pressing himself against her leg. He looked over at Ember and whined softly to her. The red she-wolf stared at him, them got up and took a few tentative steps forward and stopped. Summer held perfectly still. Ember came closer until she was standing directly in front of Summer. "Good girl," Summer praised. This was the closest Ember had ever gotten to her, and she wasn't about to jeopardize Ember's progress by trying to pet her. Instead, Summer turned and walked down to the river to wash her face and to try to catch some breakfast. Both wolves followed, Ember still keeping her distance. Tomo broke away just as Summer reached the river and rejoined Ember.

Summer had to marvel at the two wolves. How different they were, both physically and mentally. While Ember was larger, she was much more delicate and fine-featured than the sturdily built black wolf. Ember was also very shy and a little jumpy when compared to Tomo, who seemed to take everything in stride. Yet the pair seemed to compliment each other perfectly. She watched as Ember happily followed Tomo down to the beach. They waded into the water and stood still, waiting patiently for the unlucky fish that came too close.

"Sure is a nice day, huh?" a loud voice said almost directly in her ear. Summer squeaked and turned around so fast that she lost her balance and slipped on the wet rocks she had been standing on. She started to fell but felt a hand grab her own and pulled her back upright. John was looking at her a little sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"I was not scared, merely startled," Summer said as she wrenched her arm away from him. But the violent movement once again caused her to lose her balance and she landed directly in the river. John started to laugh. Summer glowered up at him, which only made him go further into hysterics. Neither of them noticed the fish that was coming closer to the girl. Summer shrieked, mostly out of surprise than pain, and the fish bit her fingers. She swung her hand around in hopes of dislodging the fish that was still firmly attached to her. It let go and sailed through the air and landed on the shore at John's feet. John was now rolling on the ground, gasping for air almost as much as the fish was. "Good job. Just do that three more times and we'll have enough to eat for the rest of the day!" he managed to get out. After glaring at him for a second longer, Summer joined him in laughter. The fish took advantage of their distraction and flopped his way back into the river.

Poppy and I looked up from our hunt. A thoroughly soaked Ocean crawled out of the river and collapsed on the riverbank next to Smoke. Both of them were making that happy noise, but a lot louder then I'd ever heard before.

"What on earth is wrong with them?" Poppy asked quietly.

"I have no idea."

-----

Later on, after they had recovered, Ocean put the thing made of logs on me again. She had told Smoke to stay behind, but he had insisted on coming, and it seemed that she had given in and allowed him to join us. Poppy, oddly enough, wanted to come to as long as, and I quote, "they don't touch me, put anything on me, or ask me to do anything stupid. And so we set off.

We traveled back through the old BeachPack territory and up into JunglePack's territory. Each of us kept a sharp lookout, and Poppy would go on ahead of us to look in all of JunglePack favorite hiding spots, but we didn't have any trouble with them. They seemed to have learned from their last encounter with Ocean and weren't to keen on repeating it. Along the way, Ocean would find different things on the ground and would put them onto the log thing. Even though there was extra weight there, it didn't hurt me or make it any harder to move around. But no matter how many times I told her this, Poppy wouldn't believe me.

We made our way through the jungle, although we got lost twice because Smoke believed that he knew the best way to go instead of letting Poppy lead the way. We finally managed to get out of it and into an open space. All sorts of plants that I had never seen before grew there. A few trees dotted the area here and there, but the most intriguing thing to me was how tall the grass was. It easily made it to my shoulder, and in some places even Poppy couldn't see over it. We had to rely on Ocean and Smoke to lead the way for us because we were pretty much walking blind. On the other side of the field was a hill and at the top of it was an enormous tree.

"I've never been in this territory before. Have you?" I asked Poppy.

"No, this is my first time here. JunglePack generally kept to the jungle. As fierce as he is, Rock is afraid of anything new and didn't like to go anywhere unfamiliar," she answered, shaking her head.

We sat there looking out at the grass, listening to Ocean and Smoke talk to each other using words neither of us understood. A movement on my left caught my eye. I looked over at it sharply, but whatever it was, it had vanished.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?" Poppy looked at me curiously.

"Something over there moved."

"It was probably just a rabbit," she said, sounding unconcerned.

I shook my head. "It couldn't have been. It was too big to be a rabbit." I sniffed the air. "Darn it. We're downwind of whatever it was. I can't figure out what it is."

"If you're so certain that there is something to be worried about, we should take turns keeping an eye out for it," she said. She looked out at the field again, a little bit of fear and worry creeping into her eyes. She stiffened suddenly. "We definitely aren't alone."

I looked up just in time to see the tip of a dark brown tail disappear into the tall grass.

"It's kind of nice up here, don't you think?" Summer asked.

"Yeah. I think this would make a good second home. We could build a house in this tree." John pointed at the biggest tree in the field. "The limbs are good and wide, and there's all sorts of stuff around here that would be great for building one."

"You mean, I would build and you would sit off to the side."

"What do you mean?" John looked at Summer, clearly puzzled.

"John, you're leg still isn't completely healed. I don't want you to hurt yourself even more," she answered, pointing at his ankle.

"Stop it, Summer! You sound like a mother hen! I'll be fine. " John tried to reassure her, but Summer wouldn't be deterred from her mission.

"Look, I know that you want to play tough guy, no, you stay quiet-" she cut him off before he could say a word, and John closed his mouth again meekly "-but I saw the way that you were limping to get up here. I offered that you should rest, but you said that you were 'fine'. So I have been silently watching you suffer to get up here, but now I have to put my foot down! I'm not letting you do any hard work until your leg completely heals. Do you understand?" Summer closed her eyes.

"Wow, that's an awful lot to say with only one breath."

"John, please-" Summer opened her eyes again.

"Okay, I'm sorry. At least let me help you with the smaller tasks. Like, I can help you get things up into the tree! When you get up to the lower branches, we can hook up a kind of a pulley system to pull different pieces up. Okay?"

John stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. Summer nodded slightly. "That works, just as long as you tell me when you need a rest when we start working."

"It won't be any trouble at all! I'll be…fine…" His voice drifted off as Summer glared at him. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Come on. Let's get some rest."

They went over to the large tree. Summer curled up between some of the roots, and John sat down with his back against the tree. He looked over at the wolves. They had cuddled up together. Tomo's head was resting on Ember's side. The red she-wolf was already asleep, her breathing slow and steady. Tomo raised his head and stared back at John. His golden eyes glowed eerily in the moonlight, turning to pale fire in the gloom of the night. John looked away from those eyes. They were terrifying to him. They reminded him of how they looked whenever Tomo would stare into the fire back in the cave, how he sat there unblinking looking directly into the heart of the fire. Only this time, they seemed to be looking into John's heart.


	16. Chapter 16: PlainsPack and Emotions

Chapter 16: PlainsPack and Emotions 

Something was wrong with Smoke. I could sense it. He was afraid. But he was afraid of me. I didn't understand it. I had done nothing to him. It was so strange, because usually he was a good friend. I recognized it from when he was still healing in the cave. Whenever I watched the fire, he would become so upset he would yell at me until I looked away from it. I don't know why he didn't like it. I don't even know why I would watch the flames. There was just something in them, but I could never remember what it was after I looked away. It was like a dream.

I stood up, making sure I didn't wake her, and trotted down the slope. Whenever I felt this miserable as a pup, I always took a run along the beach. I hoped it would work even up here. I picked up an easy lope, trying to keep to the areas with the shortest grass. I came out near to where we had first entered the area. As I turned around to pick out my next route, a rustle in the grass drew my attention to it. I forced my fur to lie flat as a dark brown wolf came out. He was smaller than me but carried himself as an alpha would. His small size kept him from being seen above the grass, and his broad shoulders and head pushed the grass aside easily. He looked at me. He seemed to be sizing me up, but his stance held no malice, only confidence.

Finally, he spoke. "I am Storm, alpha of PlainsPack. Who are you, stranger, and why have you come?" His voice was low, but it held no hate.

"I am Shadow, former wolf of BeachPack. I have come only because my new pack has traveled here," I answered, trying to keep my own voice just as even.

"You mean those TallWalkers. You consider them to be your pack." I bristled, but once again, his voice held no mockery. I relaxed.

"Yes, Ocean and Smoke are my new pack, along with Poppy, former wolf of JunglePack. We have not come to steal from you and your pack. We only wish to stay here for a little while. Smoke was injured and needs to rest before we push on further into the island." So I was lying a little. I had no idea what Ocean or Summer, what this wolf called TallWalkers, were going to do.

The wolf studied me again. Then he dipped his head. "Very well. You and your new pack may stay, as long as you do not harm my pack. Now tell me, why did you and your mate leave your packs?" Storm asked as he sat down.

"Poppy isn't my mate. She left JunglePack because she was tired of the fighting style of life that they lived by," I answered.

"Say what you like, but I can see that both of you have feelings for each other," he chuckled. "We have been watching you ever since you came into this territory. That is why I felt comfortable enough to approach you alone. From your behaviors I saw no desire to take our land, only loyalty to those you travel with. Now, tell me why you have left your own pack."

"StripedFur killed them. I was the only survivor. Ocean found me and allowed me to join her and Smoke. After that was when I met Poppy."

"You have had many adventures, haven't you? If you continue going further in, I suspect that you will have many more. Let me give you a few warnings. You will have to travel back through the jungle in order to proceed. After that there is a swamp to get through. You will then come to an old TallWalker building. If you travel through that, you will enter the tallest region of the island. There is rumor that one final pack lives there, away from ours. I have no idea if it is true, but you may want to keep an eye out for them, and any other dangers that are along the way. You may stay here as long as you need to so your pack can prepare for this journey." He stood up and stretched out. Then he looked at me sternly, and I could see the glint of ferocity in his eyes. "But know this, if you or any others of you pack harm PlainsPack, you will not make it out of this territory alive. Do you understand?"

I lowered my head to the ground. "I will make sure that there are no conflicts between us."

"Good." His docile manner returned. "Feel free to speak with us any time. Don't worry about trying to find us, we are all around you." He turned around, and with a friendly flick of his tail, disappeared into the grass.

I glanced around me. Were those yellow eyes? Was that a white pelt? I shook my head. Storm's words were just freaking me out, but nothing is there. Yet even as I looked straight ahead, a white head, similarly shaped like Storm's, poked out and looked at me. "Harm my pups, and I will personally deal with you," she snarled. She blinked and the anger left her eyes. "Sweet dreams!" she vanished just as easily as her mate.

I padded forward as silently and as inoffensively as possible. Every time a twig snapped I nearly had a heart attack. But then I would hear the giggling of pups that were having the best time trying to scare me. Soon an older wolves voice told them to behave and a light brown she-wolf fell in step beside me. "I'm Maple. Storm told us about you. Don't worry. Cloud's pups won't bother you any more. See you around!" The cheerful wolf left me alone again.

They're like ghosts, I thought to myself. I was very happy once I arrived back to the tree and could curl up next to Poppy again, where there were no tall grasses for ghost-like wolves to scare me.

Sunlight filtered in between the tree branches. John opened one eye and discovered, much to his dismay, that the light landed directly in it. His eye snapped shut immediately and cursed quietly at the sun. He turned his head so it was towards the tree and opened his eyes again, this time without the blinding pain of direct sunlight on still sleepy eyes.

He looked at Summer. A thought drifted lazily in his mind looking for somewhere that it could make sense. He had gone to sleep with his back to her, but now he was facing her. And he was awfully close to her. He looked at his arm. It was draped across her side. He cocked his head as his half-asleep brain tried to make sense of what his eyes were seeing.

Then it hit him. John yelped and jumped up from how he had fallen asleep: namely, curled up next to and holding Summer. He shuddered and stalked down to the river.

John practically flopped into the cold water and started to wash his face. _What is wrong with me? First, I'm paranoid about a wolf just looking at things, and now I sleep next to a _girl_! This is soo not normal…_

The grass behind him rustled. Whatever was moving froze for fear of being heard, but John was so absorbed in thought that he didn't notice it. It started moving closer. Little by little, it approached John, and he had no idea of it even being there. At least, not until it pounced.

John shrieked as a lump of black fur attacked him. Then a gray fur ball joined in the battle. He swatted and snarled right back at them. He was vaguely aware of two other figures, one light brown and the other white, watching the fight. The black beast attacking him sank its small teeth into his wrist. He cried in pain, but before he could dislodge it, and menacing snarl stopped him and the little monsters that were attacking him. A white she-wolf stood there with her hackles raised and sharp teeth bared. Both of his opponents trotted to her side, their heads and tails low. As it turns out, all four beasts were nothing more then mischievous wolf pups, just looking to annoy the new being in their home. John was still very much afraid, because the mother wolf could clearly do much more damage than four little pups put together. But once all of her children had come back to her, she ushered them into the grass, nodded slightly to the boy, and followed her pups.

John blinked, unsure if any of them had really been there. They had come and gone so quickly. The only proof he had was the pain in his wrist from puppy teeth.

He made his way back up the hill to find that Summer was awake. She was staring up into the branches of the tree. She glanced over at the small pile of logs they had collected along the way, and then back up.

"What's wrong?" John asked, coming up behind her.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Just trying to make sure there is enough wood for us to get something built." She took a few steps back, then ran forward and jumped, but she couldn't quite reach the branch and landed with a thump.

"Maybe a ladder would be a good thing to make first," John suggested looking down at her.

She glared up at him with the same look a cat gives someone when it has fallen into water. She stood up, brushed off her pants, and held out her hand. John blinked at it. For a minute, he thought that she actually wanted to hold hands with him, and John was both attracted and repulsed by the thought. But Summer soon solved his confusion. "Penknife," she said blandly, as though she expected him to have already gotten the clue.

"O-oh…Yeah, right," he fumbled in his pocket for the knife. It took him a while to find it, but as soon as he did, he dropped it into her waiting hand and looked away.

"John, are you okay?" Summer placed her hand on his shoulder.

John whipped around. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? What makes you think I'm not?"

"First of all, you're face is bright red, and secondly, you're talking way to fast for everything to be 'fine'. What's going on?" Her eyes studied his face, trying to figure out what was causing him to be like this.

John looked away. "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled as he turned from her. He made his way over to the woodpile. "Let's just make that ladder."

"Oh. Okay, sure thing," the girl replied and followed him. But something was nagging at her, even though she couldn't quite place what it was.


End file.
